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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 General background

Language is viewed as a versatile, dynamic and specific instrument of

human communication through which human beings can express their

thoughts, ideas, feelings emotions and desires. In the same way,

''language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of

communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of

voluntarily produced symbols. Without language we cannot imagine such

a modern and advanced human civilization. Human beings would have

remained only a dumb animal or creature in the absence of language''.

(Sapir 1971, p.8)

Language is viewed differently by different linguistic and other

personalities. For philosophers language is a means of interpreting human

experience, for sociologists language is an interaction between members

of social groups, for anthropologists language is a from of cultural

behavior which reflects and affects one’s world view, for language

teacher, language is a set of skills, for Chomsky(1957,p.13) language is a

set of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of

elements, for Widdowson (1988:3) language is a system of arbitrary

vocal symbols which permit all people in a given culture; or other people

who have learned the system of that culture, to communicate or to

interact.

The main purpose of language teaching is to impart linguistic skills to

language learners. "Traditionally, language teaching was considered to

make the learners able to read and write in a particular language but

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listening and speaking skills were neglected. Grammar teaching was

focused and language was taught translating the target language into

learners’ mother tongue. This was the oldest method of language

teaching, especially used to teach Greek and Latin in Europe, known as

Grammar Translation (GT) method. It was popular during 1840s – 1940s

in ELT field. At that time, vocabulary was taught through bilingual word

list, dictionary study and memorization. Grammatical rules were taught

deductively. The medium of instruction was the learners’ native language

and accuracy was more emphasized than fluency" , Richards and

Rodgers, 2001,p.6. Since the GT method was not very effective in

preparing students to use the target language communicatively, another

method emerged which is known as the direct method. "The main

purpose of the direct method was to teach the meaning by making direct

connection with the word through demonstration and action. In this

method, grammar was taught inductively. Correct pronunciation and

grammar were emphasized. Likewise, both speaking and listening

comprehension were focused. But, scholars recognized its limitations

which offered innovations at the level of teaching procedures but lacked

through methodological basis. Its main focus was on the exclusive use of

the target language in the classroom. However, it failed to address many

issues. After that, the oral and Situational approach to language teaching

began in 1920s. It emphasized on oral structural drills and situational

presentation. The target language was considered as the medium of

language teaching in the classroom. Likewise, the Audio-lingual Method

was developed in America as a reaction to the Direct Method in 1960s. It

was also called ‘New Key’, audio-lingual, habit theory, functional skill

strategy and Michigan method" , Richards and Rodgers, 2001,pp.52-53.

This method was associated with the structural linguistics and behaviorist

psychology. It believed that speaking and listening were the basic skills

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of language. Moreover, this method assumed that each language has its

own unique structure and rule system and language learning as a matter

of habit formation. But, this method was criticized by linguists on the

ground that students were unable to transfer skills acquired through this

method to the real communication outside the classroom. They also found

the experiences of studying through the procedure of audiolingualism to

be boring and unsatisfactory.

The communicative method to language teaching has come against all the

methods. The main purpose of the method is to develop the

communicative competence in the learners. It considers interaction and

communication as the primary function of language. Similarly, it assumes

that language teaching means to teach all the four language sills and treat

them equally. But, this method has been criticized for being ideal towards

achieving native like competence which is not possible for English as

foreign language learners.

But there are changing concepts regarding the way of language teaching.

English language teaching tradition has been subjected to a tremendous

change in recent days. It has been common to adopt, modify and replace

one method by another with changing attitude and interpretation of the

best way of language teaching and learning. Some of the language

teaching methods that gained popularity at different times in the field of

ELT are as follows:

Grammar Translation Method

The direct method

The audio lingual method

The suggestopedia

The silent way

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The strategy based instruction

The communicative language teaching(CLT)

The task-based language teaching(TBL)

Source (Richards and Rodgers 2001,pp.5-223)

1.1.1 The English Language Teaching in Nepal

The teaching of the English language in Nepal was formally introduced

with the established of "Durbar High School" in 1953 A.D. The first

English medium school in Nepal, Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana

established this school after returning from England visit, to give formal

education to his children and to the children of other ruling Rana family

members. He visited Britain in 1850 B.S. to strengthen the ties of

friendship with then superpower British Empire. He realized the

importance of English language to communicate for stranger in Nepal.

So, he invited an English man to teach English to his children and other

Rana's family children in Nepal. He established Durbar high School to

provide English education only for Rana and royal family children and

members. Later, in 1910 B.S., it was opened for all general public people.

After the establishment of Tri-Chandra campus in 1975 B.S., English

became a compulsory subject in the higher education in Nepal.

During the Rana regime, only few schools and colleges were established

to provide education in English medium. After, the full of Rana regime,

2007 B.S., establishment of schools and colleges number increased day

by day. Then, general Nepali people also get opportunities to study

English language as modern education. English is learnt for international

purpose; that is for using it as a lingua-Franca. It is widely used to

communicate in international level. In fact, we can say that it is a window

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through which we can peep to whole world. In this connection, Awasthi

(2003) states,

“English entered in the Nepalese education in 1854 when the

Prime Minister jung Bahadur Rana opened a high school in

Kathmandu. However, it was not introduced in the higher

education until 1918 when Tri-Chandra College, the first

college in the kingdom, was established. The introduction of

ELT in Nepalese education started only in 1971 with the

implementation of National Education System Plan (NESP)

until then English teachers were not trained. (p.22)”.

After the implementation of the NESP (1971-1976) a great change was

brought in the field of English curriculum. The curriculum allotted 100

full marks for English subject at the school level from grade four

onwards. There was also the provision of optional English secondary

grades. English was applied in both compulsory and specification subject

in the curriculum.

Though teaching and learning of English in Nepal was started one and a

half century ago, it could not be satisfactory due to several reasons such

as lack of trained teachers, lack of sufficient materials, lack of proper

fund, problem in curriculum and textbook designing and so on. The other

main problems were the selection of appropriate teaching approaches, the

methods and techniques.

Several attempts have been made to develop effective approaches and

techniques for the teaching English in Nepal. Now, the curriculums have

been designed on the basis of the communicative approach. There are

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also several non-governmental organizations like NELTA (Nepal English

Language Teachers’ Association), LSN (Linguistic Society of Nepal) and

LAN (Literary Association of Nepal) which work for the promotion of

English. NELTA is an organization which specially has been working

towards the promotion of ELT situation in Nepal.

1.1.2 English in B. Ed

A Course in General English, a textbook which was introduced for

three-year Bachelor of Education in July, 1996 by professor Dr. Shishir

Kumar Sthapit. Other team members then were Prof. Shanti Basnyat,

Govinda Raj Bhattarai, Chandreshwor Mishra and Ram Ashish Giri.

New Generation English is a textbook prescribed for the three-year

Bachelor of Education programme under Tribhuvan University. This is

one of the three books prescribed for the General English course. The

course carries 100 full marks, divided into three skills as:

Vocabulary 15%

Grammar 15%

Reading and Writing 70%

Total 100%

This textbook has been prepared by a team comprised of ten university

teachers who have long experience in the field of English language

teaching. The team has been led by Professor Jai Raj Awasthi. None the

less, this is the continuation of the first effort initiated by Nepali native

teachers some fifteen years ago when a team led by professor Dr. Shishir

Kumar Sthapit had prepared A Course in General English, a textbook

for the newly introduced three-year Bachelor of Education. The present

work, New Generation English, replaced A Course in General English

from the academic session 2009.

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Each reading text in New Generation English contains varieties of

exercise. They are in the order of:

i. Glossary

ii. Vocabulary

iii. Reading

iv. Writing

The Glossary section draws a list of difficult words from each of the

reading texts- with their contextual dictionary meanings. The words are

presented in alphabetical order. There may be other difficult words left in

the passage; the teachers will include them in the glossary or in their

teaching notes. Also they can solve this problem by encouraging their

students to consult a dictionary like Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary or Collins

COBULD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. The teacher is required to

design dictionary exercises to that the students are encouraged to involve

themselves in their maximum practice.

Secondly, Vocabulary section has exercise on the vocabulary items in

the passages. Different types of exercises are included under this section

in order to increase the students’ vocabulary level. But vocabulary is not

an obligatory section so it may not occur in very text.

Thirdly, Reading stands for the intensive reading of the texts for their full

understanding. Short answer questions given in this section require not

only factual answers but also answers which demand judgment and

critical thinking on the part of the students. The teachers can design more

of such questions and add a variety of exercises to the reading part.

Fourthly, there is Writing section. The questions in this section are

inferential, and the ones that require long answers with critical thinking

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and analysis. A large variety of writing exercise, from letter to essay,

composition, note making, parallel construction are included. The class

teachers are expected to design their own exercise to teach these

components.

1.1.3 The Concept and Importance of Perception

The word ‘perception’, derived from the Latin word ‘pecepere’ which

was modified from the same Latin word ‘perceptio’, means observation.

Literally it means deeper or natural understanding of something or the

way of understanding or interpreting something.

Perception is the organization of meaningful understanding about subject

matter. According to Sanford and Capaldi (1964, p. 175), perception

refers to the awareness or the process of becoming aware, of extra, of the

extra-organic or intra-organic objects or relations or qualities by means of

sensory process and under the influence of set and of prior experiences.

Similarly, Hochberg (1964, p. 660) views perception as both the

experience of gaining sensory infromation about the world of people,

things and events and the psychological process by which this is

accomplished.

It is clear from the above definitions that the development of perception is

based on experience of previous knowledge. In other words, perception

develops from organization of present and past experiences about subject

matter. My study aims to find out the teachers’ perception towards the

use of tasks given in the course ‘English for New Generation’ on the

basis of their perceptions towards familiarity of tasks given in the

textbooks, and tasks for teaching and learning language skills, importance

of tasks, tasks for teaching and learning grammar and perception towards

implementation of tasks given in the textbook.

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I argue that without understanding the perception of teachers it is always

difficult to apply any innovations in the classroom. Since ‘tasks’ are

presented in the textbook ‘English for New Generation’, it is important

to know what teachers say about them.

1.1.4 Defining ‘Task’

Task is an activity which requires learners to arrive at an outcome from

given infromation through some process of thought and which allows

teachers to control and regulate to the process. For example: filling the

from, telephone conversation and so on can be considered as a task

having a particular outcome. Giving task is the best way to engage

learners in communication. It has become both tool and subject of second

language studies. Tasks are central to the learning activity and are based

on the belief that students learn language while they focus more on the

task rather than on the language itself. The other examples of tasks

include painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out a from, buying a pair

of shoes etc. According to Nunan (1989, p.10),

“………the communicative task is a piece of classroom

work which involves learners in comprehending,

manipulating, producing or interpreting in the target

language while their attention is principally focused on

meaning rather than from. The tasks should also have a sense

of completeness, being able to stand alone as a

communicative act in its own right (as cited in Richards and

Rodgers 2001, p.224).

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We can see that task is a goal-oriented activity with a clear purpose.

However, the validity of task-based SLA researches is often criticized i.e.

the perfromance on task in the classroom does not necessarily predict

students’ perfromance in real life situation.

Furthermore, task is an activity in which students use language to achieve

specific outcome. Skehan, (1996, p.20) states that,

Tasks …………are activities which have meaning as their

primary focus. Success in Tasks is evaluated in terms of

achievement of an outcome, and tasks generally bear some

resemblance to real-life language use. So, task-based

instruction takes a fairly strong view of communicative

language teaching (as cited in Richards and Rodgers 2001, p.

224.)

From this view, tasks are those activities that have meaning in primary

focus and task-based instruction takes an important place in CLT.

Likewise, Cuesta (1995) states that,

Task is a piece of work undertaken from oneself or for others

freely of for some rewards. Thus, examples of tasks include

painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out a from, buying a

pair of shoes, making an airline reservation, borrowing a

library books, taking a driving test, typing a letter, weighting

a patient, sorting letters, taking a hotel reservation, writing a

check, finding a street destination and helping someone

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across a road. In other words, by ‘task’ is meant the hundred

and one thing people do in everyday life, at work, at play

and in between (as cited in Long, 1985, p.89).

From these above views about ‘task’, we can say that it is an activity

which is designed to achieve a particular learning goal such as using

telephone to obtain infromation and drawing maps based on oral

instruction. The materials involving tasks are stimulating, intellectually

challenging which seem meaningful for learning language. In other

words, it is an activity which requires learners to arrive at an outcome

from given infromation through some process of thought and which allow

teachers to control and regulate the process. To perfrom the task, the

learners are required to process the thought.

Tasks are also defined from different angles. Research based definition

and pedagogic definitions are the major perspectives to define it. The first

is concerned with how SLA researchers define task and the latter is

concerned with how it is defined from language learning and teaching

point of view. There are many books and articles published since 1980s

which deal with various approaches of TBLT. Ellis (2000) divides them

into psycholinguistic and socio-cultural approaches. Likewise, Shehaheh

(2005) provides four major perspectives of studying TBLT. They are:

a. Interaction hypothesis

b. Output hypothesis

c. Skehan’s cognitive views

d. Socio-cultural perspectives

When we compare between Ellis and Shehadeh’s views, it can be said

that they are almost same. However, Ellis’s view is more general than

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Shehadeh’s view (Phyak, 2008). In this context, following Ellis (2000), I

have specified the approaches in two broad categories—

i) Task from a psycholinguistic perspective

From a psycholinguistic perspective, a task is a device that guides

learners engaged in certain types of infromation processing that are

believed to be important for effective language use and / or language

acquisition. It is predictive and deterministic. Tasks are seen as the

external means by which we can influence the mental computation that

learners make. These computations determine how effectively they

communicate and how they acquire language. The interaction hypothesis

(Long, 1983, 1996), output hypothesis ( Swain, 1985,1995), cognitive

approach to language teaching (Skehan, 1996, 1998b) and communicative

effectiveness (Yule, 1997) are the major studies under this perspective.

ii) The socio-cultural perspective of tasks

The social-cultural theory has created a place in SLA since 1980s. This

theory assumes that language acquisition takes place through interaction

with other member in society (Phyak, 2008, p. 96). SLA studies carried

out from psycholinguistic and cognitive perspective are often criticized

for not being able to address the socio-cultural aspect of language

learning. Furthermore, he states that the socio-cultural enquiry sets its

foot on the view of Lantolf (1994) and the idea of Zone of Proximal

Development(ZPD) which was propounded by Russian psychologist Lev

Semeonovich Vygotsky. One of the central claims of socio-cultural

theory is that participants always co-construct the activity they engage in,

in accordance with their own socio-history and locally determined goals.

Socio-cultural theory considers language learner as a social being rather

than an individual unit and language is regarded as a tool for thought

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(Mitchell and Myles 2004, p.194) i.e. means of mediating thought and

language learning is considered as a mediated learning as other mental

activities are mediated. This theory also claims that language acquisition

takes place through scaffolding which leads learners to ZPD (a zone

which is beyond the present knowledge of learner that can be reached

through the support of adult learners of someone who knows language

better). Scaffolding is a kind of other regulation which is necessary to

help learners appropriate their existing knowledge in a particular

situation.

Task from socio-cultural theory is regarded as a tool that can be

interpreted by the learners differently according to the setting and their

interlocutors. Willis (1996) argues that socio-cultural theory observes,

“….how learners approach and perfrom the task rather than the internet

properties of the individual task” (p. 25). Furthermore, Swain and Lapkin

(1998) claim task is interpreted differently. The learners set their own

individual goal and perfrom the task according to the context. Swain

(2000a), Lantolf (2000a), Ohta (2001), Lantolf and Appel (1994a) are the

major studies in the socio-cultural perspective of TBLT.

1.1.5 Task and Exercise

According to Ellis (2003), task is a work plan is to be distinguished from

the task as a process (i.e. the activity that transpires when particular

learners in a particular setting perform the task). Although there are many

researches carried out in TBLT, I find that there are no congruent views

on what a task is in relation to language pedagogy. The debate is mainly

central differences between ‘task’ and ‘exercise’. These terms often

create problems for language teachers. In general sense, they are

synonymous i.e. both of them require some sort of communication.

According to Ellis (2003) ‘task’ as an activity that call for ‘meaning

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focused language use’ and ‘exercise’ as an activity that call for ‘from

focused language use’ (p.3). However, such a distinction does not make

any sense in language teaching. A language learner should focus on both

from and meaning or meaning in both task and exercise. In ‘task’, the

learners are primarily engaged in trying to communicate content

(meaning is primary), they work towards the goal of determining whether

the picture they hold is the same as or different to the picture held by their

partner, the outcome is evaluated in terms of whether they are successful

in this goal, and there is a relationship with the real world in the sense

that the kind of discourse that arises from this talk is intended to resemble

that which occurs naturally. An exercise is premise on the need to

develop the linguistic skills as a pre-requisite for the learning of

communicative abilities while task is based on the assumption that

linguistic abilities are developed through communicative activities. There

is no point in spending more time on the debate of task versus exercise

distinction. They are different only in terms of the purpose. A task can

also be used as a traditional exercise and vice-versa.

In contrast, in an ‘exercise’ such as a fill in the blank, grammar exercise,

the learners are primarily engaged in producing correct linguistic forms,

there is no obvious communicative goal to be achieved, the outcome is

evaluated in terms of whether the learners’ answers are grammatically

correct or not and no direct relationship between the type of language

activity involved and naturally occurring discourse in intended.

Ellis (2003) further claims that the role of participants is a key factor to

show the differences between exercise and task. He argues that

participants are language ‘users’ in a task where as they are ‘learners in

an exercise. Again, this distinction is misleading. There is no any such

factor that defines language users and learners distinctly. A language user

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is a language learner and vice-versa. Although they are difficult to

distinguish the way language is learned in a task and exercise is different.

In task, language is learned incidentally but in exercise, language is

learned intentionally.

Based on this distinction, a task can be defined as an activity that requires

participants to focus on meaning in which language learning is incidental

i.e. language is learnt without being informed explicitly what aspects for

language the learners are going to learn.

1.1.6 Types of Tasks

Depending upon the research, carried out in different times, places and

contexts, tasks can be classified into different types. Nunan (1989)

suggests two types of tasks:

I. Real-world tasks, and

II. Pedagogical tasks

Real-world tasks, according to Nunan (1989), are designed to practice or

rehearse those tasks that are found to be important in a needs analysis and

turn out to be important and useful in the real world. Example of this type

is using a telephone whereas Pedagogical tasks have a psycholinguistic

basis in SLA theory and research but do not necessarily reflect real-world

tasks. An example of this type is information gap task.

According to Prabhu (1987) there are three types of tasks in TBLT. They

are as follows:

a) An information-gap activity: This activity involves a transfer of

given information from one person to another person or from one to

another or from one place to another generally calling for the decoding-

encoding of information from or into language.

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b) Reasoning-gap activity: This activity involves deriving some new

information from given information through process of interference,

deduction, practical reasoning, or a perception of relationship or patterns.

c) An opinion gap activity: This activity involves identifying or

articulating a personal preference, feeling or attitude in response to a

given situation.

But Willis (1996) proposes six types of tasks as:

Listing

Ordering and sorting

Comparing

Problems solving

Sharing personal experiences

Creative tasks

Though different researchers in different times prescribed different types

of tasks during their study but we cannot find any plausible view on

actual numbers of tasks. In fact, tasks types depend upon the contexts,

level of the subjects where and why they are used. Generally, there are

only (what Nunan1989 says) two different types of task; real-world tasks

and pedagogical task. Prabhu, in his project, has used these two different

types of tasks for primary age learners of English which can be seen from

the list of those ten task types.

1.1.7 Components of Tasks

Different scholars have given the components of TBLT according to their

own views. According to Candlin (1987) task constitutes the following

elements or components:

- Input: It refers to the data presented for learners to work on.

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- Role: It specifies the relationship between participants in a task.

- Setting: It refers to the classroom and out of class arrangements

entailed in the tasks.

- Actions: They are the procedures and sub-tasks to be performed by

the learners.

- Monitoring: It refers to the supervision of the task in progress.

- Outcomes: They are the goals of tasks.

- Feedback: It refers to the evaluation of the tasks.

According to Shavelson and Stern, task constitutes the following

elements or components:

Content – It refers to the subject matter to be taught.

Materials-They are the things that learners can

observe/manipulate.

Activities-They refer to the things that learners and teachers will be

doing during the lesson.

Goals-These are the teachers’ general aims for the task.

Students-It is concerned with students’ abilities, needs and

interests are important.

Social community- It is concerned with the idea of the class as a

whole and its sense of ‘group ness’.

1.1.8 Characteristics of TBLT

Learner’s performance is evaluated on the basis of whether they have

reached at expected outcome of task or not. Every language teacher

realizes the importance and relevance of students centered, practical and

flexible approach to the world-wide demand for communicative teaching

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which helps learners to understand the language in context and to use it

effectively in appropriate situation outside the classroom. Task-based

language teaching offers these necessities of the latest demand in making

teaching learning program better. Therefore different scholars provide

different remarkable characteristics of TBLT, which are as follows:

Task as a work plan, i.e. task incorporates the activities designed by

teachers to engage the learners in communication.

A task involves a primary focus on meaning. Task involves the activities

like information gap, opinion gap, etc, that focuses on meaning.

A task involves real-world process of language use. (The activities like

filling the from, writing e-mail, etc are taken as a task).

A task involves any of the four language skills. Oral skills of language are

more practiced.

A task engages cognitive process. This feature is related to the cognitive

process like selecting, classifying, ordering, reasoning.

A task has a clearly defined communicative outcome (this feature is

similar to what Skehan argues about the success in performing the task).

1.1.9 Current Approaches of TBLT

Approaches on TBLT are described variously. Primarily, TBLT is

motivated by learning theory rather than theory of language. Several

assumptions about the nature of language, according to Richards and

Rodgers (2003,p. 226-227) can be said to underlie current approaches to

TBLT. These are:

i. Language is primarily means of making meaning

As Skehan (1989, p. 98) says “in TBLT (task-based instruction), meaning

is primary .....the assessment of the task is in terms of outcomes” and TBI

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is not “concerned with language display”. So it is clear that language is

learnt to achieve the main theme or message of it not to get its from how

it is structured.

ii. Multiple models of language informed TBI

Advocates of task-based instruction draw on structural, functional and

interaction models of language. So, it is said that TBLT informs multiple

models of language.

iii. Lexical unites are centered in language use and language learning

In TBLT, learning vocabulary is considered to play a more central rule in

second language learning in recent days than was transitionally assumed.

iv. Conversation is the central focus of language and the keystone of

language acquisition

In TBLT or also called TBI, speaking or trying to communicate with

others through the spoken language drawing on the learners’ available

linguistics and communicative resources is considered the basis for

second language acquisition.

1.2 Review of the Related Literature

A number of research studies related to task-Based Language Teaching

have been carried out and some of them are given below.

Cuesta (1995) conducted a research entitled ‘A Task-Based Approach to

Language Teaching: The Case for Task-based Grammar Activities’. The

main purpose of this research was to explore ways of fashioning task in

the classroom which control learners’ language while giving her

opportunity for self-expression and creativity. She had sought to provide

a rationale for a task-based approach to language teaching. She had also

argued for the need of a judicious balance between the various goals in

the teaching of grammar.

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Ellis (2000) conducted a research entitled ‘Task-Based Research and

Language Pedagogy’. The main purpose was to critique the two different

theoretical accounts (psycholinguistic and socio-cultural theory) of task-

based language use and discuss their relevance of language pedagogy.

One account referred to as the psycholinguistic perspective. According to

this, tasks are viewed as devices that provide learners with the data they

need for learning; the design of a task was seen as potentially determining

the kind of language use and opportunities for learning that arise. Long’s

Interaction Hypothesis, Skehan’s Cognitive Approach, and Yule’s

Framework of Communicative Efficiency were the model of this

perspective. The second theoretical account of tasks is the socio-cultural

theory which emphasizes dialogic process (such scaffolding) that arises in

a task performance and how these shaped language learning. The

psycholinguistic approach provided information of the importance of

planning task-based teaching and learning while socio-cultural approach

illuminated the kind of improvisation that teachers and learners need to

engage within task-based activity to promote communicative efficiency

and L2 acquisition.

Byrnes (2002) conducted a research entitled ‘The Role of Task and Task-

Based Assessment in a Content-Oriented Collegiate Foreign Language

Curriculum’. The main objectives were to explore the role of task and

task-based assessment in a collegiate foreign language department that

shifted its entire under graduate curriculum from a from-based normative

approach to a language use and language meaning orientation for

instruction and examine how the demands for specificity that characterize

task-based assessment contributed significantly to an enhanced

knowledge base and a new educational culture on the part of

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practitioners, faculty and graduate students, primarily in literary cultural

studies

Murphy (2003) carried out a research entitled ‘Task-Based Learning: The

interaction Between Task and Learners’. The main objective of this study

was to manipulate task characteristics and processing condition focusing

on learners’ attention on the competing goal of accuracy, fluency, and

complexity. However, it was also necessary to consider the ways in

which learners interact with tasks within the classroom environment and

this small study investigated the relationship between the task and

learners. The findings of this study suggested that the manipulation of

task characteristics and conditions may not achieve the intended

pedagogic outcomes, and that new ways are needed to focus learners’

attention on from without sacrificing the meaning-driven principles of

task-based learning. Teachers were in a unique position with regard to

their understanding and knowledge of individual learners, and a closer

partnership between teachers and researchers would be beneficial to

support this process.

Oli(2005) conducted a research on ‘The Effectiveness of Task Based

Technique for Teaching Simple Present Tense’. The main objective of the

research was to find out the effectiveness of task based techniques for

teaching simple present tense. The researcher concludes that the task

based teaching is very effective in teaching simple present tense.

Khadka (2007) carried out a research on ‘Task-Based and From Focused

Techniques of Teaching Grammar’. The main purpose of this research

was to determine the effectiveness of task based technique of teaching

grammar. This report concludes that task based technique is very

effective in teaching simple past tense.

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Although many researches were conducted about the task-based approach

in language pedagogy. Some studies are based on teaching of grammar

using tasks in which interaction among learners is given importance. But

none of any researches have been done to explorer the teachers’

perception towards the use of task given in the course ‘New Generation

English’. From this point of view, this study is different from the other

studies. Similarly, most of the studies have been done by the foreigners in

their own environment whether task is suitable or not in language

teaching classroom. But this study is particularly based on the Nepalese

context to explore the teachers’ perceptions towards the use of tasks

given in the course. The main purpose of this study is to explore the

teachers’ perception towards the use of tasks given in the course book

‘New Generation English’ in the Nepalese context and to suggest some

pedagogical implications based on the findings of the study for the further

research.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are as follows:

i) To explore the teachers’ perception towards the use of tasks given in

the textbook ‘New Generation English’.

ii) To suggest some pedagogical implications based on the findings of the

study.

1.4 Significance of the study

This study mainly concerns with the teachers’ perceptions towards the

use of tasks given in the course book. This research equally provides

valuable knowledge to the people who are interested in further study on

the use of task and also very much useful to the syllabus designers,

textbook writers, teacher trainer and students as well. This study also

helps to those people who want to determine whether or not the tasks

23

given in the course are suitable for the very level. This study will be

significant for the professional organizations of English teachers working

in the field of English education as it provides feed back on the

effectiveness of how English teachers perceive about tasks given in the

course book. Moreover, this study will be valuable for those prospective

researchers who are interested in conducting research to the relevant areas

in the days to come.

24

CHAPTER TWO

METHODOLOGY

In this study, I adopted the survey research design. The following

methodological framework had adopted to fulfill the above mentioned

objectives.

2.1 Sources of Data

I used both primary and secondary sources for the data collection.

2.1.1 Primary Sources of Data

The primary source of data were the English teachers who were teaching

in the government-aided and private colleges of Katmandu district. The

data from primary sources was collected by administering a set of

questionnaire.

2.1.2 Secondary Sources of Data

Various books, dissertations, journals, reports, articles, research works

and other internet sources related to the research area were consulted.

Some of them were Nunan (1989), Hochberg (1994), Ellis (2000),

Richards and Rodgers (2001) Byrnes (2002), Phyak (2008)etc.

2.2 Population of the Study

The population of the study were the English teachers who were teaching

in the colleges of Katmandu district. The teachers were selected from

both the government-aided and private colleges as the population of the

study.

25

2.3 Sampling procedure

The sample size of this study were 20/20 English teachers of different

colleges of Katmandu district. Half of them were selected from

government- aided colleges and rest of them were selected from private

colleges.

2.4 Tools for Data Collection

I used questionnaire as the basic tool for data collection. I prepared a set

of questionnaire to distribute to the selected teachers. The questionnaires

include a series of both open-ended and close- ended questions.

2.5 Process of Data Collection

After preparing a set of questionnaire, I went to the field for data

collection. For this purpose, I prepared a list of the name of the total

colleges (10 public and 10 private). Then I visited to the selected schools.

I asked permission with the authority (Chief) and explained them the

purpose of the research. Then I met the informants, established rapport

and fixed the time. After that, questionnaires were distributed to them.

Finally, I collected, tabulated, and analyzed the data obtained from the

questionnaire.

26

2.6 Limitations of the Study

The study was limited in the following way;

i. The study was limited to explore the teachers’ perceptions

towards the use of tasks given only in the Text book ‘New

Generations English’.

ii. This study covered the perception of only teachers from 10 public

and 10 private colleges of Katmandu district.

iii. It was limited to the questionnaire only as a tool for collecting

primary data.

iv. The study was limited only to Katmandu district.

27

CHAPTER -THREE

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

This chapter consists of analysis and interpretation of the data. It deals

with the analysis and interpretation of data obtained from the due effort of

the data collected from primary sources. The responses collected from

the participants have been analyzed and interpreted under the following

five broad sub-headings using appropriate statistical tools and tables:

i. Perception towards the familiarity of tasks given in the

textbook

ii. Perception towards the importance of tasks given in the

textbook

iii. Perception towards the tasks for teaching language skills

given in the textbook

iv. Perception towards the tasks for teaching grammar given in

the textbook

v. Perception towards the implementation of tasks given in the

textbook

3.1 Perception Towards the Familiarity of Tasks Given in the

Textbook

Under this topic, the respondents were given a set of four questions

related to the familiarity of the tasks given in the textbook. All the

questions were asked to know teachers’ understanding of TBLT, the

concept of tasks, familiarity of tasks, most frequently used tasks given in

the text book English For New Generation.

28

3.1.1 Understanding about TBLT

The participants were asked a question (Have you heard about ' Task

Based Language Teaching (TBLT)?' ) to know their understanding

about TBLT. Their responses have been tabulated and presented in the

following table:

Table No. 1

Understanding about TBLT

Responses No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 32 80%

No 9 20%

Total 40 100%

The above table shows that 80% of the total respondents answered ‘Yes’

and 20% of them answered ‘No’. Those who answered Yes said that they

had heard about TBLT at their campus level while studying. It shows that

the majority of the respondents have already known about TBLT

especially while studying at campus.

In the same way, another question (Do you know what a task is? Give

your opinion) was asked them to express their opinion about the tasks.

They came with different ideas while defining tasks. Major ideas are

presented below:

Task is an activity for which an utterance or unit of language is

used.

Task is a teaching technique.

29

Tasks are activities done in the classroom for achieving the

objectives of a plan.

Tasks are those activities that should be performed in the classroom

and at home to learn something.

Tasks is an activity for which an utterance or unit of language is

used.

Tasks are a set of works given to the students in order to enrich and

evaluate their knowledge mastered in a certain subject matter.

From these above points of view, it can be said that the participants

consider tasks as those types of work given to the students in order to

enhance language learning process in the classroom.

3.1.2 Familiarity with the Tasks

In the same line, I had asked participants a question (What kinds of

tasks are given in the course book 'New Generation English'? List

some of them) to know their familiarity with tasks given in the textbook

of English For New Generation. The information obtained from them are

tabulated and analyzed as below.

30

Table No. 2

Familiarity with the Tasks

Tasks Respondents Percentage

Reading essays, stories, poem, letter 38 95%

Note making 36 90%

Parallel construction 30 75%

Writing essays, letter 38 95%

Summary writing 38 95%

Wh-question 36 90%

Interpreting the text 30 75%

Problem solving in pair and group 30 75%

Ordering the sentence 15 37.5%

3.1.3 Frequent Use of Tasks

Similarly, the participants were also asked a question to know which

tasks they used most frequently while teaching English at the bachelor

first year . The responses obtained from the informants have tabulated

and presented in the following table:

31

Table No. 3

Frequent Use of Tasks

Tasks Respondents Percentage

Question answer 25 62.5

True/false item(statement) 15 37.5

Free writing composition 25 62.5

Reading a poem, letter, story 25 62.5

Fill in the gaps 20 50

The above table shows that 62.5% of respondents used question answer,

free writing composition, and reading a poem, letter, story and so on

37.7% of them with true/ false item(statement); and 50% of them with

fill in the gaps. With this data, it can be said that the most frequently used

tasks are question answer, free writing composition, reading a poem,

letter and stories.

3.2 Perception Towards the Importance of Tasks

The teachers were asked to express their responses as to whether tasks

encourage participation of the students in teaching English at the bachelor

level.

3.2.1 Participation of Students in Classroom

The responses obtained from them have been tabulated and analyzed in

the following table:

32

Table No. 4

Participation of Students in Classroom

The above table shows that 62.5% of the total respondents answered ‘yes’

and 37.5% of them answered ‘no’. Those who answered ‘yes’ said that

the students actively participated during the tasks in teaching English by

taking part in pair work and group work (speaking conversation). But

they suggested that the language teacher must encourage and make the

students familiar with the given tasks.

Similarly, those who answered ‘no’ said that the students did not take

active participation during the tasks especially in government-aided

colleges due to large class, lack of resources, etc in teaching English.

3.2.2 Useful Tasks in Teaching

Similarly, Q. No. 5 (What kinds of tasks are more useful in teaching

English?) was asked participants to know the usefulness of the tasks

given in the textbook in teaching English. Their responses are tabulated

and presented in the following table:

responses No. of responses Percentage

Yes 25 62.5

No 15 37.5

Total 40 100

33

Table No. 5

Useful Tasks in Teaching

Tasks No. of respondents Percentage

Short question answer 36 90%

Fill in the blank 36 90%

Yes /No question 25 62.5%

Telling the summary 36 90%

Completion 20 50%

Free writing composition 36 90%

Writing summary, essays, 36 90%

Ordering items 20 50%

The above table shows that 90% of the total respondents said that ‘short

question answer, fill in the blank, telling the summary, free writing

composition, writing summary, essays’ as the more useful tasks in

teaching English; likewise, 62.5% of them with ‘Yes/No question’, 50%

of them with completion and ordering items as the more useful tasks in

teaching English at the bachelor level.

Based on this information, it can be said that the majority of teachers are

familiar with ‘short question answer, Telling the summary, free writing

composition, writing summary and essays, yes/no question, ordering

items and completion as the more useful tasks in teaching English at the

bachelor level

34

3.3 Perception Towards Tasks for Teaching Language Skills

For this point, the respondents were requested to respond seven questions

about tasks for teaching language skills.

3.3.1 Tasks for Listening and Speaking

The teachers were asked to express their responses about the tasks related

to listening and speaking skills.

3.3.1.1 Tasks for Listening Skill

For this purpose, the Q. No 11. (What kinds of tasks do you use to

teach listening and speaking skills?) was asked to express their

responses which have been tabulated and presented in the following table:

Table No. 6

Tasks for Listening Skill

Tasks No. of respondents Percentage

Identify the topic 36 90%

Interpreting text 36 90%

Predicting and guessing 25 62.5%

Recognition and discrimination of

stress and intonation

20 50%

Sound and symbol correlation 20 50%

The above table shows that 90% of the total respondents were found to be

familiar with ‘identify the topic and interpreting the text’; as the task for

listening skill. Likewise, 62.5% of them with ‘predicting and guessing’;

50% of them with ‘recognition and discrimination of stress and

intonation, sound and symbol correlation’. Therefore such items like

35

identify the topic, interpreting the text, predicting and guessing,

recognition and discrimination of stress and intonation, sound and symbol

correlation etc are the tasks which are useful for listening skill.

3.3.1.2 Tasks for Speaking Skill

Similarly, the responses collected from the respondents about the tasks

for speaking are tabulated and presented in the following table:

Table No. 7

Tasks for Speaking Skill

Tasks No. of Respondents Percentage

Expressing views/role play 36 90%

Problem solving in group and

pair

25 62.5%

Discussion and debate 36 90%

Expressing condition,

reporting

30 75%

Recitation 36 90%

Telling summary of the text 36 90%

The above table shows that 90% of the total respondents were found to

familiar with ‘telling summary of the text, recitation, discussion and

debate, expressing views/role play’ etc,; 75% of them with ‘expressing

condition and reporting’ and 62.5% of them with ‘problem solving in pair

and group’ as the tasks for speaking skill in teaching English at the

bachelor level. From these above views, it can be said that the majority of

36

the respondents listed the similar tasks to teach speaking skill in class at

the bachelor level.

Similarly, Q. No. 12 (Are the tasks given in the text book sufficient for

listening and speaking skills? Given reasons to support your answer.)

was asked teachers to know their view whether the tasks used in the

textbooks for listening and speaking were sufficient or not.

3.3.1.3 Sufficiency of Tasks for Teaching Listening and

Speaking Skill

The responses collected from them have been tabulated and presented in

the given table.

Table No. 8

Sufficiency of Tasks for Teaching Listening and Speaking Skill

Responses No. of Respondents Percentage

Not sufficient 35 87.5%

Sufficient 5 12.5%

According to the above table, 87.5% of the total respondents responded

that the tasks used in the textbook for listening and speaking skills were

not sufficient. So they also suggested that most of the tasks used in the

textbook specially focused on reading and writing skills. No any tasks

give emphasis on teaching listening and speaking skills. So book must be

modified and included those tasks which enable the students to practice

listening and speaking skills. And they also suggest that tasks to be

included in the textbook for teaching listening and speaking skills should

be more practical and more related to the skills on the basis of students’

daily life, interest and knowledge.

37

On the other hand, 5% of them responded that the tasks used in the

textbook were sufficient for listening and speaking skills.

Based on this information, the majority of the teachers said that more

tasks must be included which specially focus on teaching listening and

speaking skills and the tasks included must be more practical and more

related to the nature, interest and daily life of the students.

3.3.2 Tasks for Reading and Writing Skills

The respondents were requested to give responses about their familiarity

with the tasks used in the textbooks for teaching reading and writing.

3.3.2.1 Tasks for Reading Skill

The data have been presented in the following table:

Table No. 9

Tasks for Reading Skill

Tasks No. of Respondents Percentage

Reading essays, stories, poem 36 90%

Reading letter, livelihood 30 75%

The above table shows that 90% of the total respondents responded about

‘reading essays, stories, poem’ and 75% of them about ‘reading letter,

livelihood’ as the major tasks for reading skill in teaching English. So, it

can be said that the majority of the bachelor level English teacher were

familiar with ‘reading essays, stories, poem, letter, livelihood etc. as the

major tasks in teaching reading at the bachelor level.

38

3.3.2.2 Tasks for Writing Skill

The responses obtained from the respondents as the tasks for the writing

skill have been tabulated and presented in the following table:

Table No. 10

Tasks for Writing Skill

Tasks No. of Respondents Percentage

Describing people livelihood in

paragraph

20 50%

Rewriting stories, essays 36 90%

Guided composition 25 62.5%

Summary writing 36 90%

Answering the question’s answer 36 90%

Free writing composition 30 75%

The above table indicates that 90% of the respondents were found to be

familiar with ‘answering the question’s answer, summary writing,

rewriting stories, essays’; 50% of them with ‘describing people livelihood

in paragraph’; 62.5% of them with ‘guided composition’; and 75% of

them with ‘free writing composition’ as the tasks used in the textbook for

teaching writing.

Based on this data, we can say that the majority of the bachelor level

English teachers are familiar with free writing composition, guided

composition, describing people livelihood, answering the question’s

answer, summary writing, rewriting stories, essays etc. as the major tasks

for writing at the bachelor level.

39

Moreover, they were also asked to comment on implementation of tasks

for reading and writing skills. The majority of the respondents responded

that the tasks used in the textbook especially focused on reading and

writing skills. They also suggested that no any tasks are found on the

textbook which especially focused on those skills which help the students

to practice listening and speaking properly and sufficiently. According to

them, the appropriate and effective tasks should be included in the

textbook to introduce all the four language skills because teaching

language means to teach all four basic skills of language.

3.4 Perception Towards the Tasks for Teaching Grammar

I had tried my best to find out the teacher’s perception towards the tasks

for teaching grammar that is whether the textbook ‘English for New

Generation’ equally focused on teaching grammar Q. No. 14 (Are the

tasks given in the textbook focus in grammar teaching?). Respondents

responded that no any tasks are given in the text book which especially

focused on teaching grammar. English for New Generation mainly

focused on four language skills and especially focused on reading and

writing skills. To teach the grammar in B. Ed. first year, Tribhuwan

University has prescribed another book named as Exploring Grammar

in Context.

So, in conclusion English for New Generation is the book through which

students can practice four basic skills of the language i.e. listening,

speaking, reading and writing. According to the respondents view to

teach the grammar to the students properly it will be better to follow

Exploring Grammar in Context.

40

3.5 Perception Towards the implementation of Tasks

The teachers had expressed their views towards the implementation of

tasks on the basis of six sets of questions. The response of the teachers

have been presented and discussed in the following sections:

3.5.1 Number of Students in a Class

In this study, the respondents were asked a question (see Appendix-I) to

know their views about the average number of students in teaching

English classes at the bachelor level.

3.5.1.1 Average Number of Students

The responses are presented in the following table:

Table No. 14

Average Number of Students

According to the above table, 12.5% of the total respondents responded

that the average number of students should be between 50-55; 7.5% of

them responded below 30; 55% of them responded 40-45; 10% of them

responded 35-40; and 15% responded below 30.

Number of Students Number of Respondents Percentage

50-55 5 12.5%

45-50 3 7.5%

40-45 22 55%

35-40 4 10%

Below 30 6 15%

41

It shows that the majority of the respondents responded that the average

number of students in a class should be appropriate between40-45 at the

bachelor level. They further opined that since there are more than 60

students in their classroom, it is very difficult to implement tasks in the

classroom.

3.5.2 Teacher Training

I had also asked the teachers’ to express their view about the teachers’

training whether it was necessary to implement the tasks used in the

textbook at the bachelor level or not.

3.5.2.1 Training Needed for the Implementation of Tasks

The responses collected from the respondents have been presented and

tabulated in the following table

Table no. 15

Training Needed for the Implementation of Tasks

According to the above table, 90% of the total respondents responded that

training is essential for the proper implementation of tasks given in the

textbooks. In this connection, they said that training provides new ideas,

method, vision etc how to use the different techniques in the classroom

while teaching English at the bachelor level. Furthermore, they said

untrained teachers cannot handle and move class properly. So, the

Responses No of Respondents Percentage

Yes 35 87.5

No 5 12.5

Total 40 100

42

refreshment training should be provided to the teachers based on the

textbooks and curriculum on the other hand 12.5% of them responded

‘no’ to this question. Based on this infromation, it can be said that

training is essential for the implementation of the tasks in the bachelor

level textbooks. Without it, teaching and learning process can not be

effective to meet the goal of textbooks and curriculum.

3.5.3 Interest to Practice Tasks

Teachers were also asked to find out whether they were interested to

practice tasks in their classes while teaching English at the bachelor level.

3.5.3.1Interests to Practice Tasks in the Classroom

The responses collected from the respondents are presented in the

following table:

Table No. 16

Interests to Practice Tasks in the Classroom

Responses No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 25 62.5%

No 15 37.5%

Total 40 100%

The above table shows that 62.5% of the total respondents responded

‘yes’ and 37.5% of them responded ‘no’ to the question. It shows that the

majority of the teachers were interested to practice tasks in ELT classes at

the bachelor level.

43

CHAPTER-FOUR

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

On the basis of the analysis and interpretation of the data obtained from

the respondents, the following findings have been drawn. The findings

are followed by the pedagogical implications and suggestions for further

researches.

4.1 Findings

The major findings of the study are listed below:

a. It was found that the majority of the participants i.e. 70% had heard

about TBLT especially when they were studying at the campus

level.

b. According to the respondents, most of them were familiar with the

tasks given in the textbooks.

c. Respondents responded that short question answer, fill in the blank,

Yes/ No question, telling summary, completion, free writing

composition, writing summary, essays etc, are useful tasks given in

the textbooks at the bachelor level.

d. It was also found that the tasks used in the textbook for teaching

two language skills such as reading and writing are sufficient., but

no tasks are given in the textbook which give emphasis on

grammar.

e. It was found that most frequently used tasks are writing summary,

answering short question, fill in the blank, writing letter and

reading poem etc. to teach the students in bachelor level.

f. It was found that most of the respondents responded that identify

the topic, interpreting the text, predicting and guessing, recognition

44

and discrimination of stress and intonation, sound and symbol

correlation etc. were the tasks mostly used for teaching listening

skill.

g. It was found that expressing views/ role play, problem solving in

pair and group, discussion and debate, expressing condition,

recitation, telling summary of the text etc. are the most useful tasks

used for teaching speaking skill.

h. Out of the total, 87.5 % of the total respondents responded that the

tasks used in the textbook to teach listening and speaking skill are

not sufficient.

i. Most of the participants were found that reading essays, stories,

poem, livelihood, letter etc are the tasks used in teaching reading

skill. They also opined that short answer questions given in this

section require not only factual answers but also answer which

demand judgment and critical thinking on the part of the students.

The teachers could design more of such questions and add a variety

of exercises to the reading part.

j. Respondents also responded that describing people livelihood in

paragraph, rewriting stories, essays, guided composition, summary

writing, answering the questions, free writing composition, parallel

construction etc. are the tasks used in teaching writing skill.

According to them writing section are inferential, and the ones that

require long answers with critical thinking and analysis. The class

teacher was expected to design their own exercise as well.

k. They also opined that different types of exercises are included

under the vocabulary section in order to increase the students’

vocabulary level. But vocabulary is not an obligatory section.

45

l. It was found that tasks related to the grammar were not given in the

textbook. They also opined that New Generation English especially

focuses on teaching vocabulary, language skills such as reading

and writing.

m. Most of the teachers i.e. 87.5% responded that the teacher training

is one of the essential factors to implement the tasks used in the

text book effectively.

n. It was found that number of students in a classroom is suitable

below 55.

o. It was also found that the majority of the teachers are interested to

practise the tasks in the ELT classes at the bachelor level.

46

4.2 Recommendations

In the light of the findings obtained through the analysis and

interpretation of the data, the following recommendations are proposed

for the pedagogical implications:

i. The teachers should be familiar with the tasks given in

the course to make students actively participate in the

classroom.

ii. Not only for writing summary, answering short

question, fill in the blank and reading poem but also

the tasks which require long answer with critical

thinking like free writing composition should be

frequently used.

iii. Especially no tasks are given in the textbook which

give emphasis on teaching listening and speaking skill.

Tasks which help the students to develop listening and

speaking skill should be included properly.

iv. A large variety of writing exercise, from letter to

essay, composition, note making, parallel construction

are included in the textbook but the class teacher

should design their own exercise to teach these

components.

v. To learn the language, vocabulary teaching also play a

vital role. So, class teacher should encourage the

students to develop vocabulary power in them.

vi. Equal emphasis should be given on teaching grammar

because grammar is also the part of teaching language

47

vii. It is also required to train teachers on TBLT for the

effective implementation of the tasks. Furthermore,

training should be provided to the teachers based on

the textbook in curriculum.

viii. The number of the students should not be large to

implement tasks effectively. Average number of

students should be not more than 45 in class.

ix. At last but not the least, textbook should encourage

the teachers to practise the tasks in the ELT classes at

the bachelor level.

48

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